In his past two contests, Kim has clung to Paulo Thiago and Siyar Bahadurzada like a shower curtain in a slight breeze en route to a pair of UD victories, improving his UFC record to 8-2-1 NC with exactly 1 stoppage victory. So let’s hope that Silva has drastically improved his takedown defense since the Fitch fight, or we’ll surely be in for another grip-n-trip clinic. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

In the weeks leading up to his scrap with Stipe Miocic at UFC 161, it appeared as if Roy Nelson would be headed for the greener pastures of an MMA promotion that wasn’t run by a guy who hates his fat ass. In the days following Nelson’s three round trouncing at the hands of Miocic, it was the general consensus that Bellator was a CHICK’N Crisp sandwich away from luring in one of MMA’s top heavyweights at a steal of a price. So how does Nelson now find himself in line to fight Daniel Cormier, a former Strikeforce champion who is coming off a (tepid) win over Frank Mir in his UFC debut?

Perhaps we should step back for a second. You see, prior to UFC 161, Nelson had strung together a nice little three-fight win streak (all via KO) and was looking to break himself off a piece of that Daniel Cormier hype. Imploring the classic UFC strategy of declaring that the fight “wouldn’t make sense,” then trying to turn it into a #1 contender fight for another division’s title, then bringing race into the equation, Nelson was able to successfully troll his way into a fight with Cormier despite coming off a loss. Huzzah! The likelihood of this fight coming to fruition is all dependent, of course, on how Nelson’s contract negotiations with the UFC go, according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.

Then again, you could argue that Nelson was more impressive in defeat than Cormier was in victory based purely on the amount of shots he was able to absorb without being knocked out. It would be an insane argument to make, but hey, Tim Sylvia would probably have your back. In either case, the pair is tentatively set to throw down at UFC 166, which goes down on October 19th in Houston, Texas.

Melendez is coming off of a razor-thin decision loss to champion Benson Henderson at UFC on FOX 7. Despite the ‘L’ on his record, the former Strikeforce champion lived up to the hype in his UFC debut and looks to get back into title contention ASAP by facing Sanchez.

“The Dream” has won three out of his last four bouts, including his victorious return to the lightweight division this past March when he earned a decision over Takanori Gomi. Melendez looked better than ever in his last bout, but Sanchez has a tendency to make any fight a competitive scrap…most of the time, at least. Who do you pick in this one, ‘Taters?

Considering that Lombard is one of the UFC’s most expensive busts in recent memory — with only one win in the Octagon in three attempts at 185 pounds — this fight could be a must-win for both men, and you can bet that Lombard will be swinging for Marquardt’s off-button, at least until he gets tired in the second round. Got any predictions?

(“What I want to know is, who is this Hocky Dennis person and why he no get hespect?” Photo via Getty Images.)

In an interview with ESPN yesterday, Dana White confirmed that Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez will meet in their highly-anticipated rubber match at UFC 166, which goes down on October 19th from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. We now go to Joe Rogan for a reaction…

Ask yourself this question: Within the next two years, will the UFC heavyweight title be held by anyone whose last name isn’t Dos Santos or Velasquez?

That’s the scenario the UFC heavyweight division currently faces. The division is like the grim days of old, when Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia traded the belt back and forth, stomping “top contenders” like Justin Eilers, Paul Buentello, and Tra Telligman along the way.

The only difference is that now, instead of a hairy Belorussian feuding with an overweighthunting enthusiast, we have a personality-challenged Mexican feuding against a Brazilian with a badly receding hairline.

This isn’t to disparage Cain Velasquez or Junior Dos Santos as fighters, though. Both men are insanely talented. But that’s the problem — they’re both so talented that the rest of the fighters in the division aren’t a match for them. The only challenge to Velasquez is Dos Santos. The only challenge to Dos Santos is Velasquez.

Before you run to the comments screaming about Alistair Overeem and other heavyweight fighters, hear me out.

The UFC heavyweight top ten isn’t what it used to be…well actually; it’s exactly what it used to be: A list of overrated fighters who people think are top-notch because of the UFC label, as well as a division with the UFC’s least athletically gifted fighters.